City, schools are going downhill

By Letter to the Editor

If you liked the results of the Board of Education, you will love consolidation.

Mayor Bob Young has been avoiding me, as he does not want to give me answers. For three months, he has been too busy to handle county business yet can raise over $1 million in tribute to the mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani. Ask the mayor how many New Yorkers agreed to support him in his next election.

In all fairness, the mayor's office did have Max Hicks, Augusta's director of utilities, call me. He was busy the week before Thanksgiving and during Thanksgiving week. Just when does he conduct utility business?

On Nov. 27, the mayor's office gave me the runaround again leading me to call City Administrator George Kolb's office. Mr. Kolb has not yet returned my call.

The Chronicle's bleeding-heart editorial of Nov. 28 mentions that Columbia County grew 35 percent in the 1990s while Richmond County grew two percent. Its growth appears mostly as single parents with housing vouchers.

The special grand jury is not doing its job. Why does the Board of Education continue to use 180 portable buildings? This means that the county board is short between 12 and 15 new schools. Why? And the system keeps going downhill.